I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

[Tails]

Basically I never was interested in adventure games (played only few on Amiga) and recently that has changed, after hearing about I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. It's based on really good post apocalyptic story, written by Harlan Ellison: Overall it's about about supercomputer called AM, that has destroyed all of humanity except for five people. AM keeps them alive and torturing for nearly 109 years. In this adventure game (that has different plot from book) AM finds them a new game to play....

So... Is this title worth playing and good for beginning adventure with point'n'click games? I enjoyed the story and would mind some extended version of it. Also, it's better to play this game under DosBox or Scumm? never tried that second one.

 

[made]

The quality of the story and puzzles varies between the different characters but overall it's certainly worth playing. Works like a charm in scummvm so I didn't bother with dosbox.

 

[Azrael the cat]

It is absolutely worth playing. Without spoiling you, there are multiple endings available. The original author wrote the game's narrative and it deviates quite a lot from the story while maintaining the same themes. The big sticking point in negotiations for a version of the game was that the author didn't want the game to be truly 'winnable' (given the story's ending, and his general misanthropy). The compromise reached is very very nice It's designed so that the 'good' ending is not only somewhat difficult, but plays like an alternative version of the story, kind of a 'what could have been, if humanity wasn't as flawed/selfish/cowardly/etc as it is'.

 

[Hory]

Worth playing as far as adventure games go. The actual short story is definitely worth reading.

 

[ghostdog]

Yes, It's definitely worth playing.

 

[Tails]

Thanks for the replies I play it yesterday a bit and it's great (for now). I manage to finish Gorristers trail, in the "good" way. The character and puzzles were decent. Same goes with the story though I excepted that it will be longer. But still, there is four characters more to go. The voice of AM is great and I was really surprised when I read that it's the voice of Harlan Ellison probably no one would be better AM.

The only thing I dislike is those horrible midi music... and the fact that ScummVM don't wanna run in fullscreen when I choose HQ2x mode. In window mode it makes window larger then my resolution (1280x800). But I can live with that, since game looks pretty nice in normal mode.

 

[Satori (original)]

Let's Play - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... FD9E176EAE

 

[laffer35]

It's worth playing, certainly if you like the novel it's based on.
However, it tends to be quite expensive these days... I got my copy on eBay long ago and even then it was pretty expensive.

 

[hal900x]

I loved the short story, but the tone of the game was sacrilegious. I only tried one character, the blakchik computer-programmer type. Ghettospeak and wisecracking does not suit the mood of the novella in any way, shape or form. I did not care for the gameplay. There are lots of dead-ends: items, rooms, hints that go nowhere and serve no purpose. Just generally bland. I have heard that other characters are more interesting, however.

 

[asper]

It is a flawed classic. It has some bugs, the puzzles of the different characters vary in quality, and sadly, there are useless items and locations (unforgivable in an adventure...). Most important of all, the (brilliant) mechanic of having to confront your fears and moral dilemmas could have been implemented much better. When you make bad choices your character portrait shows a sour face and its background turns black. They could have made it much more interesting by implementing different ways of reaching the same objective, and presenting genuine moral problems, instead of just encouraging save&reload.

The whole idea, setting and storylines are more than worth it.

 

[Konjad]

I started playing it and so far I enjoy it. Completed Gorrister's and Ellen's paths. I liked Gorrister's story a lot. Ellen's was rather mediocre, and she is constantly cracking jokes which completely does not fit the story about an eternal torment. Also got a bit stuck with her point-and-click "riddles". Overall though the game seems decent so far and I'm glad I have finally gave it a try after having it in the Steam backlog for so long. I thought I won't enjoy it as I don't like point-and-click adventure games in general, but I was wrong.

 

[Maxie]

I started playing it and so far I enjoy it. Completed Gorrister's and Ellen's paths. I liked Gorrister's story a lot. Ellen's was rather mediocre, and she is constantly cracking jokes which completely does not fit the story about an eternal torment. Also got a bit stuck with her point-and-click "riddles". Overall though the game seems decent so far and I'm glad I have finally gave it a try after having it in the Steam backlog for so long. I thought I won't enjoy it as I don't like point-and-click adventure games in general, but I was wrong.

save the game before doc's scenario, there's an unwinnable scenario if you don't pick up items early enough

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

This game has some really unusual and wierd mechanics sometimes, but overall it's quite fun. I saw a lot of people complaining that it's easy to end up with dead ends, but I don't understand the complaint.
Keep a lot of saves and be sure to always perform actions in an "ideal way". If you do something that lowers your spirit meter (indiciated by "bad" music, distressed character portrait, character background getting darker), reload.
Only do things that raise your spirit meter. Ideally, you should complete each scenario with the spirit meter at max (light green or white background).

Also, the way this game handles item interacton is a bit different from other adventure games. Often, your character will only be able to use or pick up items after certain other actions have been completed. So make sure to often revisit places and check items again that your character refused to interact with earlier.

The end level is really wierd and experimental, and as Maxie mentioned, you will be missing a key item in the end if you miss a little detail in the Doc's scenario. You could still finish it though without that item, although I only learned that from a walktrough.

 

[Konjad]

The game is divided into 5 different characters playable in any sequence. I found their mental states different but not all fitting the theme of the game. Some seem too cheerful, and moreover after an age of suffering their main traumas are still ones from the life they had long time ago before being enslaved by an AI. After such a long time full of physical and mental torture I'd rather expect them to forget the past and go completely insane, but instead they are now 'facing their fears' coming from normal life 110+ years ago...

The gameplay is a classic point-and-click adventure game and I must say I tend to dislike such games because very often they resolve to pixel hunting and guessing what the developer wanted you to do. In this case you also have to do it in the correct order usually, because otherwise you might kinda lock yourself or at least have to go back to click everything again, because you clicked X first and then Y, but X was supposed to be clicked after Y and didn't give you an item or response you have to get, and nothing tells you that, you only realize it after you get stuck and re-click everything... it can be frustrating. At least the game is short so it ends before geting too exasperating.

The audiovisuals are surprisingly good despite their age. I enjoyed the aesthetics of environments a lot, as well as voice overs in general, although not all of them fit very well. It certainly is worth a recommendation for those who enjoy point-and-click and are immune to their drawbacks. I think it's also worth giving a try if you enjoy decent enough but flawed stories, but do not expect a pleasant gameplay, it's the weakest part of this game. In the end I'd say I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream ends up being average, mostly being held back by its lackluster and confusing gameplay and storyline not being extensively thought-through.